Public Lands Act would open access for outdoor sports

Feb. 18, 2014

Written by

Dick Martin

CentralOhio.com

The Making Public Lands Public Act (H.R. 3962) was recently proposed to open access for hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation on existing public lands.

The bill would direct the U.S. Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to spend at least 1.5 percent of their Land and Water Conservation Fund resources each year on projects like easements and road maintenance to open up access to public lands.

The fund receives its revenue from offshore drilling, which means it does not add to the federal deficit.

• The Division of Wildlife is poised to request increases to the license and tag fees charged to nonresident hunters. Nonresident hunters last faced such an increase 10 years ago, says the wildlife division.

Not on the to-do list is a similar request to up the same fees on resident hunters, particularly deer hunters, said Wildlife Division Chief Scott Zody. The matter will need the approval of the Ohio House and Senate.

It should bring in a fair sum of money to the DOW since last year 37,894 nonresident hunters bought licenses.

• Raccoons are cute animals and small ones have been illegally kept as pets by outdoorsmen and animal lovers. But they can be dangerous.

Raccoons are hosts to several diseases, the worst among them being raccoon roundworms, a nematode parasite found in the intestine of raccoons. Infected animals can pass millions of eggs daily in their feces. The eggs can be found in the environment, in fresh or dried raccoon feces, and in contaminated soil and water.

If ingested by humans, especially by children who might play with the animals, the result is illness and in rare cases, even death.

• Many readers consider spring to be here when they see the first robin. But do they actually leave or perhaps fly south just a short distance, then return?

A reader emailed recently to say she had seen her first robin Jan. 8.

“I thought it was just a fluke, but today it’s back again in the same holly bush,” she said. “Seems he should have waited a few weeks before coming back to Ohio.”

She had a point. The day after I received her email, I saw a flock of at least 15 robins in my pear tree.

• Bike riders are outdoorsmen too, and nearly all of us have spent time riding a bike through pretty countryside.

One bicyclist, Richard Hallett, has written a book called “The Bike Deconstructed — A Grand Tour of the Modern Bicycle” (Princeton Architectural Press — $29.95) that dismantles the modern bicycle to uncover the origin, design and evolution of every integral part.

He also discusses different materials: carbon fiber, steel, titanium and aluminum, and even accessories like fenders, tools and tire inflation devices.

• The 2014 Field and Stream Deer and Turkey Expo will take place March 14 through 16 at the Ohio Expo Center on 17th Avenue in Columbus. This year’s event offers more than 460 exhibit booths, many with product for sale and the Outdoor Life Trophy Deer Contest.

There also will be seminar topics on scouting and hunting, a new products special display area, archery trick shooting by Bryan Ferguson, and a live animal display. Visitors can try their hands at laser firearms, plus an archery range, air gun range and bow tryout area, and watch arrowheads, spear points, knives and axes chipped from stone.

The Expo opens at 2 p.m. Friday, and at 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Dick Martin is a retired Shelby biology teacher who has written an outdoor column for more than 20 years. He can be reached at richmart@neo.rr.com.